Babyblues
by Knives'Ghostwriter
Summary: Prequel to Father's Son, Baby Arystar and Dad Krory. Possible collections of Al growing up, not positive of continuation. Krory taking care of his new baby boy.


As much of a night owl as Krory was, he was still rubbing his eyes and yawning widely as he stumbled into the room. The fussy crying from the crib made his stumble over the toy truck he'd forgotten to put away the day before, causing him to slam into the side of it and grumble when the crying stopped for a moment at the start. "It's alright, puiule, no need to cry." The infant fussed and clutched close when Krory lifted him up to hold him against his chest. "Always hungry," he smiled as he rocked the infant, hoping to sooth him further when the fussing hadn't stopped yet. "It's going to be a moment I have to get your bottle ready."

Krory settled the child in the chair beside the table while he fumbled in the cabinets and fridge, grumbling as he knocked something from the shelf and heard something shatter against the floor, the baby instantly started wailing. "Shhh it's alright, puiule, no need for tears." He lifted his son up and settled him on his hips, hissing when his bare toes stepped onto one the glass shards now littering the floor. He glared at the blood drops smearing the floor on his way back to the fridge as he set a small bottle of red onto the counter beside a baby bottle of milk and grumbled at the pain in his foot. He felt another sharp tap against his toes and luckily was able to pick his way around the large shards in front of him to keep from making it worse. All the while the poor infant hadn't stopped his fussing. It took him nearly 2 minutes of; waiting for the bottle to warm, gathering up the modified tops for it and trying to not fumble the still fussing child while he attempted to test the bottle to make sure the bottle wasn't too warm to realize he'd heated the wrong bottle. His head bumped the cabinet over head while he pushed the bottle of red, now fully prepared for an infant to drink it at this point, away and repeated the process correctly.

A good 10 minutes later, Krory finally settled his son back in the chair and drug another close by to flop down into it while he held the bottle out as he saw for the first time that night, that sharp tooth happy grin as the infant flailed chubby arms and latched on. He smiled back and sleepily reached back to the counter to grab blindly at the bottle of Akuma blood he'd intended to drink once he'd settle his son back to bed and just sighed and grumbled at the top before shrugging and joining his son in a late night snack.

* * *

When Krory opened the door to his son's room he panicked at the splintered crib bars, until he heard the giggling from nearby. He sighed in relief and knelt down to scoop up his now confused flailing son and hugged him close, checking him over for damage. Infant noises of protest sounding while he stood back up and checked the child over again. Krory winced at the sharp teeth biting into his fingers but he had to force the child to keep his mouth open to see when he realized the bars weren't splintered but gnawed through. "Scare me like that.." His son's eyes glared at him until he was finally through checking for any splinters remaining in the infant's sharp teeth. "Don't do that again, puiule, you scared me."

He hesitated before setting the infant back with the toys he'd been happily playing with before frowning at the crib and grumbling as he gathered up the damaged pieces and tossed them into the useless bed. He'd have to find an alternative to this as well... He'd call Komui once his son was through playing, knowing it would take time before he could even call his superior given the time on the other side of the ocean.

Krory had been up for a day solid, at this point all he could do was shake himself when his eyes dropped down and hold the squalling infant closer every time he threatened to drop off from pure exhaustion. He could not get his son to fall asleep. The poor infant had gotten to the point all he could do was cry and wail, and at that point all Krory could find to help was to let him. Well fed, cleaned and comfortable as he made sure his son was, the poor infant just couldn't rest. Hadn't for what he began to believe was at least 2 days now. At least that was the last time he'd remembered actually waking up before his son or noticed him sleeping at all. It got to the point where he feared dehydration from the amount of crying or possibly damaging the poor child's throat. It took several hours before the wails finally died down. Krory let out an anxious sigh, realizing the boy had cried himself horse. He knew he was nearly in tears himself as he brushed the poor child's eyes to wipe away the tears, wishing he could find something that could help sooth the child to sleep, but all he could do was sit on his bed and hold him closer. When he realized those small eyes were starting to close he sighed in relief and rested back on his pillow to settle the exhausted infant beside him. His eyes, no matter what he did, couldn't stay open.

Loud chirping sounded, making Krory growl in his sleep and roll onto his back, "Count, you called me?"

"He just got to sleep," was growled as a hand shot out and grabbed the fluttering golem. Without even opening his eyes, he threw it against the wall. Realizing the infant hadn't even stirred at the commotion, he curled closer and dropped back into a much needed sleep.

A growling sounded some time later, it was just loud enough for Krory to bolt upright and snarl, ready to attack, before he realized it was just his stomach growling for food... again. His head thumped back against the pillow as he smiled when he noticed the soft squirm from his son as the infant, thankfully, slept on. He couldn't risk the baby waking up alone or squirming himself off the edge, even with the large bed, and risked, carefully, lifting the baby up and settling him in his arm. He let out a revealed sigh when the infant still slept on while he got himself something to eat to keep the growling away.

* * *

Krory sighed while he fumbled to keep the happily eating infant crooked in his arm while he attempted to gather his own lunch. "Komui you put me on leave yourself... I can't go on missions right now!"

Krory rolled his eyes at the golem replying in Komui's voice while he stuffed the bottle under his chin, keeping it held in distance to help the infant continue his feeding while he reached for ingredients. All he wanted was a sandwich for God's sake! "What about 'on leave' don't you understand?" The bottle fell from him moving his jaw at the words, making the infant cry out and start whining for it to return. "I can't leave him alone Komui, find someone else."

The infant calmed down when the bottle was returned and happily drank his lunch while Krory finally gathered the rest of his ingredients. "Don't take this wrong, puiule, but I can not wait for you to hold your bottle yourself." The infant just pulled away from his meal and gave a large grin and happy 'ah' when his father kissed his brow.

"How has he been doing, Count?"

Krory sighed, having expected Komui to have disconnected by then, "He's been just fine, aside from... I believe he has insomnia. Is that the right one? He doesn't sleep well or at all some nights."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Komui's voice was a touch sad.

"Yeah, that's what she told me it was," Krory turned a sad smile toward his watchful child as he rubbed at the small patch of pure white/blond hair.

"Sorry to have bothered you Count, I just thought you might be up for some time away. And it is on your side of the pond after all."

"Either way, I can't, not yet. I can't risk it," Krory smiled at the sound signifying the infant was done with his feeding and was at the point of chewing just to chew. He sighed and pulled the bottle back to twist off the shredded nipple from it, "Could you find a better top for the bottles as well as the crib? He chews through them when he's bored with eating."

"Even with," Krory gave an affirmative hum. "Huh, I'll see what I can do. But, might I suggest a pacifier?

Krory was too busy checking his son's teeth for any remaining materials to catch it the first time then laughed, "Feel free to try those too. I can't get him to not chew them to bits though."

"Honestly, Count, only you."

"Yeah, only me." Krory smiled at the frustrated sounds he was receiving when he checked the last of his son's teeth and brushed at the infant's hair.

* * *

Krory winced at the sound of snapping plastic and panicked, "Spit it out. Da-l inapoi!" He winced at the feel of sharp teeth when he had to reach in, fearing the infant might attempt to swallow the end of the small toothbrush he'd been using to clean the boy's teeth.

The infant, for the most part, injured three of his fingers, one rather deeply, before shaking his head and cutting the skin on the back of his hand, pulling away. Krory sighed, thankful, when he saw the head of the brush hit the floor. "Do not take this wrong, puiule, but I can not wait until you learn to do this on your own." He couldn't help smile at the giggling infant as he fumbled under the counter, searching out a new toothbrush. He decided to give the infant a break while he bandaged his hand and cleaned up the mess before continuing.

At least he had the thought to work on teeth first and bath last... He frowned, worried, when he saw the infant happily flailing and grinning at him with now blood stained teeth.

* * *

Under the suggestion of Komui (after checking with the nurses to make sure the premise was sound) Krory started the infant on pureed foods, mainly due to the formulas being quick to be burned up by the child's system and him quickly becoming hungry because of that. Krory had been a bit pessimistic about giving a few months old infant even that. He still packed up the happily giggling infant into his carrier and hailed a cab to the store. "Stay away from dark greens," was the advise he was given, "At least until he's more mobile." He shrugged as he grinned at the smiling infant and strapped down the carrier as he rode, slightly annoyed the driver hadn't even paused to make sure the child was safely secured before taking off.

Krory understood, honestly he did, the amusement and curiosity of a young child. Seeing them out with their parents, hearing them coo or fuss when they lose sight of their parents, he'd even been guilty of smiling and waving at them just to see them grin and flail happily, hoping to keep them from worrying. He didn't understand the idea of sticking your hands in the basket though... "Madame don't," he caught the older woman's hand as she reached, startled from her smiling and motherly expression, when he realized she was reaching, probably to pinch his cheek or something equally innocent. "He's, um, teething. And it's not a good idea to get too close." He gave a sorry smile, showing enough sharp points for the woman to step back and shuffle away quickly. Krory sighed at the flailing infant before smiling back and going back to reading the ingredients on the packages he'd grabbed. Warding off any other curious souls while he continued looking for things he believe the child might like.

Krory settled the carrier on the table rather than free the infant from it while he put away the different foods he'd grabbed, earning a giggle and the occasional flail from the happy child when he nudged it to make it rock while he bustled around the kitchen. When the sounds began to be frustrated and whiny he knew the child was getting hungry. He smiled widely at the infant, it grew even wider when the baby just giggled at him and waves his tiny arms to be picked up. "Alright, lunch time."

Krory groaned and grabbed the rag again when he could not get the child to take any food. "Maybe Komui was wrong, maybe you're not ready for real food yet." He sighed and snatched up the container, eyeing it before shrugging and taking a small spoonful to show his son it was food. He regretted it immediately. He shook his head and rushed for the bathroom as quickly as he could, still barely making it to the toilet. "No wonder he wouldn't take the food."

The concoction went into the trash, and from then on Krory taste tested the premade food he brought home. Unfortunately, aside from a few things, he opted to just buy a blender. After all, he always had some good home cooked food left over when he cooked.

* * *

Krory was called away from his nice steaming plate of home fried chicken when the phone rang, the doctor's office, good thing too he'd almost forgotten about the checkup they had scheduled to make sure his son was growing properly and his nutrition was kept up, what with his seemingly accelerated metabolism. He was gone not even five minutes to find the phone and return to the table. Not noticing the glint in his son's eyes as he walked away.

"Arystar, no!" Krory dropped the phone and snatched up the baby, who had a death grip on one of the legs from his plate and chewing at it. "Spit it out," Krory finally got the leg away and was failing to retrieve the piece that had been torn off in the process as the infant had bitten his fingers in the process and was gnawing quick enough that he honestly didn't want to risk another attempt. "Please, puiule, spit it out." The infant glared, continuing to gnaw on the piece he'd gotten a hold of. Krory sighed and watched for a moment as the chewing became less difficult for the child until finally the chunk was gone. He waited several more moments, putting down the food when he realized the infant was trying to grab for it again, and just waited to see any signs of choking or difficulty breathing, but when nothing showed and the infant seemed even more determined to get more to eat he went to set him back in his chair and sighed at the damage done to it. The left side arm was chewed straight through, causing the tray to swing freely and rendering the chair useless. "You are far too smart..."

Arystar looked so proud of himself when he got to sit with his father and occasionally grab a quick bite while his father was eating, making sure to gnaw while he could on something tastier than his crib or highchair.


End file.
